Print border choices?

jay moussy · Apr 18, 2021

I made a crude paperboard negative carrier for 6x6, to fit my 23C.
My neg opening window ended up a bit big, there is a slight visible gap between the negative edge and window, which I may, or may not control with a small glued add-on of exposed film as mask.

Absolutely new to printing, that got me to think of how to deal with print borders.
Do I strictly control them with the easel blades?
Alternatively, are there acceptable "freestyle" ways?

radiant · Apr 18, 2021

Do whatever you like. It is your negative and your print.

ChristopherCoy · Apr 18, 2021

You're only limited to your imagination. People file the edges of metal carriers for a rough look like the image below. Some people purposefully use larger carriers than there negative to see the sprocket holes etc. It's really highly subject to personal preferences.

Music5006w by Christopher Coy, on Flickr

fgorga · Apr 18, 2021

I agree... borders are subjective and personal. There is no "right answer".

That said, it is useful to remember that borders should support the image not distract one's attention from it.

In my view, Christopher's example shown in post #3 is a very effective use of a border. It adds a bit of grungy (as a good thing!) atmosphere to the subject without being overpowering.

radiant · Apr 18, 2021

Here is one of my latest lith prints with "free" border. My negative holder is made from baltic birch plywood and that makes the edges organic.

MattKing · Apr 18, 2021

Easel blades - at the paper level - are the best way of ensuring sharp and straight and (hopefully) square borders.
Using a diffusion light source with the standard 35mm negative carrier - not a filed out carrier - for my Omega D6 gave me this result:

I attribute the border effect to reflection/diffraction around the edges of the carrier.

nickandre · Apr 19, 2021

I'm a huge fan of oversized negative carriers. Especially with the Hasselblad which has quite a cool pattern around the edge of the image. I get a little annoyed when the lab doesn't do overscan.

Alan Edward Klein · Apr 19, 2021

When my wife and I were decorating, I picked out a color in each picture that kind of matched the border selection.

mklw1954 · Apr 22, 2021

I got tired of dealing with slightly uneven borders from easels and use borderless easels. I like the look of borderless prints, and have Saunders 8x10 and 11x14 borderless easels.

ChristopherCoy · Apr 22, 2021

mklw1954 said:
I got tired of dealing with slightly uneven borders from easels and use borderless easels. I like the look of borderless prints, and have Saunders 8x10 and 11x14 borderless easels.

Didn't know they made such a thing. I'll have to look into them. How does the paper stay flat?

nickandre · Apr 22, 2021

ChristopherCoy said:
Didn't know they made such a thing. I'll have to look into them. How does the paper stay flat?

It holds the edges with like a 45 degree angle doodad. I think there are probably cases where they won’t work but…

I think when I was a poor college student I use a sheet of glass.

Mal Paso · Apr 24, 2021

Borderless Easels like Saunders work OK when the paper doesn't have a lot of curl. Vacuum easels can be better. I have a vacuum easel with a black painted steel face and use magnets for paper alignment.

CMoore · Apr 28, 2021

If i want "Borders" i mat the print.
I often use a 2 bladed easel (for 35mm) and give no thought, at all, to where the borders fall.
It matters not to me.

Don_ih · Apr 28, 2021

I think the border is most effective when the image is centred on the paper with a decent margin - especially if the photo is a different aspect ratio than the paper (say, a 35mm negative enlarged without crop onto 8x10 paper). That makes it feel more like a finished thing, somehow.

Danner · Apr 28, 2021

I prefer to trim the print to a full bleed, and let the window mat define the border size, while the dry-mount mat becomes the color of the border. I use white, gray, and black rag mats depending on the print's tonal balance.

YMMV.

Pieter12 · Apr 28, 2021

I have seen some nice examples of a thin, even black border on prints carefully made with a ruling pen. Especially effective for high-key prints or images with a very light or white background.

Pieter12 · Apr 28, 2021

Also, film rebate borders can be added as a second exposure. Richard Avedon did this sometimes on his large format work.

gone · Apr 28, 2021

Would inked borders work w/ B&W prints? Seems there would be a big difference in appearance between that and the print itself (ink vs silver), but that's just a guess.

Pieter12 · Apr 28, 2021

momus said:
Would inked borders work w/ B&W prints? Seems there would be a big difference in appearance between that and the print itself (ink vs silver), but that's just a guess.

Not noticeable under glass. You would need to use either India ink or something like a Micron pen.

Mal Paso · Apr 29, 2021

Pieter12 said:
I have seen some nice examples of a thin, even black border on prints carefully made with a ruling pen. Especially effective for high-key prints or images with a very light or white background.

I've achieved that effect with a piece of cardboard and 2 exposures with the neg carrier pulled.

I like wide borders that fit the photo and paper. Rather than mat each photo I bought 4 blade easels. The 11x14 Saunders is what I used for years, even made books by drymounting back to back. Finally got the 16x20 to which I added registers for 20x24 paper. Found a deal on a 20x24 Saunders ($400) but it's 29 inches wide, might fit someone else's darkroom.

With a 4 blade it's drymount and you're done unless you really want to cut a mat. Someone gave me a Dexter mat cutter, I will use it someday.

mklw1954 · Apr 30, 2021

To get paper to lay flat when using borferless easels, gently bend the sheet against the curl a few times and it will lay flat enough.

Print border choices?

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